Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti wary of Tottenham Hotspur ahead of Premier League clash
Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti revealed he was looking forward to an interesting game when Chelsea welcomed Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. The Italian manager said he was aware of Spurs attacking style of play and was confident his side
could match it.
Ancelotti insisted his side were desperate to secure a win against Tottenham. He told reporters, “Usually, Tottenham play attacking football. We want to do this. Maybe it will be a fantastic game to watch.”
The Italian manager has been keeping an eye on the competition and is aware of their strike force and strong midfield. While Spurs have recently suffered a slump which has seen them slip out of the Premier League top four, they are still capable of great
performances. Harry Redknapp’s side demonstrated that quite well against top Serie A sides in the earlier stages of UEFA Champions League.
Tottenham defeated http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Inter-c39567 Milan and AC Milan to reach the quarter-finals of the European competition, but unfortunately lost out to Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid.
The likes of much sought after 21-year-old http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Aaron-Lennon-c3062 and Rafael van der Vaart have shown a lot of improvement in the latter half of the season and could trouble the Blues defence.
Ancelotti said, “They can attack with Bale, they can attack and counter-attack with [Aaron] Lennon, they can use the ability in the air of [Peter] Crouch, they have [Rafael] Van der Vaart, who is a very good player that can play in the hole.”
However, the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 boss was confident about his side’s ability to deal with a Tottenham side that is deperate for a top four finish. The Italian manager added that he was certain his side could control the game and get a favourable result.
Ancelotti further said, “So they have a lot of skills up front. We have to be able to control this and to use our play to win the game. It will be important to have some control of the game and use your play to win the game.”
Midfielders http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michael-Essien-c25294 were previously declared unfit and did not train with the rest of the squad, but have now been passed fit for the game. Ancelotti confirmed he had a full squad to choose from ahead of the crucial London derby.
However, the Blues boss still has some important decisions to make when it comes to squad selection, especially while deciding who to play upfront. Despite much criticism Ancelotti announced he was most likely to start with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fernando-Torres-c13707.
The two strikers have failed to strike up a successful partnership in the past, having only made three starts together from a possible 14. However, both players have rediscovered their form since then and are expected to perform well together.
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